A lark, before a cast of merlins, gives a very pretty ringing flight. In the Spring, however, and even on warm days in the Winter,[265] they will not ring up.
A very good female merlin will take “chukor,” “seesee,”[266] quail, woodcock,[267] and other small quarry.
Defect of Merlins.—Merlins are inveterate “carriers,”[268] a great defect in their character, and should therefore be flown as a “cast,” and not singly. Another defect is that, if allowed to get very hungry, they begin to tear their own feet; and if the falconer be inattentive, they will tear away the flesh till they reach the shank bone.[269] Once they learn this vice, the only remedy is to give them their freedom. The falconer must therefore be careful to keep them always in high condition, for otherwise they will not only not “ring up” well, but will also contract the vice just mentioned.
A good, young, merlin may be kept and moulted, but just as is the case of a young passage saker and an “intermewed”[270] one, an intermewed[271] merlin will not ring up as well as a young passage hawk. The young hawk is light in body, and ignorant as well; but after the moult it becomes not only heavy, but cunning also, and will give up the moment it sees that the lark it is chasing is very strong on the wing. A “haggard” bālābān,[272] however, will, in the hands of a skilful falconer, ring up better than a young passage bālābān.
There are two varieties of merlin. In one variety the immature and mature plumage are, even after many moults, the same. In the other, the plumage of the back, after the first moult, becomes blue-grey, while the cere and legs become bright yellow like amber. I have never been able to discriminate which kind it is that will remain the same, and which kind will assume the blue plumage and yellow cere.
FOOTNOTES:
[253] Vide note [208], page 52.
[254] Madāmiʿ, pl. of madmaʿ, vide p. 50, note [200].
[255] “‘Cast,’ s., a ‘cast of hawks,’ i.e., two; not necessarily a pair.”—Harting.
[256] Kākulī P., which elsewhere the author says is called quṃburah by the Arabs; it is the Crested Lark.